Former B.C. public health officer denies allegations of sexual abuse against child

The former top doctor of British Columbia's Interior region told court Wednesday that he did not sexually abuse a young Alberta boy.

Dr. Albert de Villiers is on trial in Grande Prairie, Alta., facing one charge of sexually assaulting a child and one charge of sexual interference that he's alleged to have committed between June 15, 2018, and July 31, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.

The judge-alone, Court of King's Bench trial began on Tuesday when the now 11-year-old boy gave evidence he had been sexually assaulted and shown pornography by de Villiers during sleepovers at the doctor's home.

But on Wednesday, de Villiers took the stand and denied committing the offences, instead explaining that he and the child developed a close relationship in which he had overstepped by acting more like a parent than a friend.

"I kind of overstepped the bounds of being a family friend," the doctor said.

De Villiers worked as a medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in North zone for 16 years. He moved to Kelowna in 2020 to work as the chief medical officer of health for Interior Health.

In 2018, the boy's family moved to northwest Alberta and became friends with de Villiers and his wife. The boy and the doctor became close. Court heard the boy and his sibling both slept over at the doctor's house on a few occasions, and that on others only the boy went.

Under questioning by his lawyer Chris Millsap, de Villiers spoke about the time he spent with the young boy and his family.

The doctor said that while at first, he treated the boy like any other of his friends' children, they started to have more in-depth conversations about things. 

He said that he can't remember how many times the boy and his sibling slept over at his place, but said there were times when only the boy stayed.

He said he did once sleep in a tent with the boy and his sibling during a campout, and that on another occasion he slept alone with the boy in a basement bedroom while his wife and the other child were upstairs.

During his testimony, the boy said he'd taken a bath with de Villiers. When asked about it, the doctor said that on one occasion, after having returned from the public swimming pool, the boy and his sibling wanted to go in the hot tub in his house and that the boy had asked him to join. He said they were all wearing bathing suits.

He said that while the boy's parents are good parents, he sometimes questioned their choices and said he thought about how he would guide the boy differently. 

He added that, in retrospect, he crossed a boundary and should not have been doing things such as sleeping in a tent with the children.

De Villiers would also talk to the boy on video calls sometimes, court heard, including a final one on May 27, 2021. The next day, the child disclosed the allegations to his mother.

'It will never happen with anyone else'

During cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Amber Pickrell questioned de Villiers about a voicemail he left for the boy's father in early June after realizing the parents had blocked and unfriended him on multiple social media platforms.

In the apologetic message, de Villiers made statements, including "Just want to say that it has never happened before," "It will never happen with anyone else," and "things lead to another."

Asked what the "it" was that he was referring to by saying those things, de Villiers said it was overstepping and acting like a parent.

Closing arguments are expected to begin Wednesday.

De Villiers is scheduled to go to trial on three other charges involving a different underage complainant in August 2023. In that case, de Villiers faces one count each of voyeurism, sexual touching, and making sexually explicit materials available to a child.